23 Aug 2016

The Chairperson of Moshupa sub- district council Mr Benjamin Mogodi says agriculture sector was greatly affected by the low rainfall and intensive heat that were experienced at the onset of the ploughing season in the their district.

Councillor Mogodi who was officially opening Moshupa sub-district council meeting in Moshupa on August 22, said this in turn resulted in both the total number of farmers who took part in ploughing and area planted reduced compared to last season.

He said only 3 526 farmers have registered for different agricultural inputs for the 2016/17 financial year which is low as compared to 4 000 farmers who benefitted from ISPAAD inputs distribution in 2015/16 ploughing season.

The chairperson said ISPAAD individual fencing is doing well, 136 beneficiaries have been assisted with fencing materials and 50 of these have already completed fencing their fields while some are still continuing.

He said farmers decry the operational modules of the package especially the exclusion of livestock within the fenced area, hence opt for individual fencing.

“Aalthough ISPAAD horticulture is available to groups and individuals horticulture farmers in the area have not shown any interest to it citing required percent contribution as a limiting factor,’’ he said.

Concerning animal production, the chairperson said since inception of the LIMID programme, 601 beneficiaries has been approved for small stock packages of which 408 has been implemented and 388 received complete packages.

He said the department has suspended the execution of new project until this month, adding that they are only procuring for partially implemented projects in order to complete their packages.

He noted that a total of 61 projects have been completed, although they encounter some challenges in the district which hinders good progress.

The chairperson further said 94 beneficiaries have been approved for Tswana chickens and 71 have already been implemented. He said out of 71 projects, 41 are complete and 30 are partially implemented and procurement to complete them is ongoing.

Mr Mogodi said on fodder processor package, 62 are approved with 40 complete and the remaining 22 are awaiting funding.

He said according to Veterinary Services annual vaccination of Pasteurella in both cattle and small stock is heavily emphasised in the sub-district as they continue to record livestock mortalities resulting from the disease.

“Livestock owners are therefore advised to regularly dip and deworm animals since most drink from stagnant water sources like ponds and dams thus compromising herd  health from infestation of both internal and external parasites,’’ he said.

Mr Mogodi stated that it has been noticed that farmers continue to misuse and vandalise crushes by loading and off-loading livestock in vaccination crushes, while government has provided central loading facilities for such activities, requesting the councillors to educate community members to refrain from such. Ends